Letters to the editor: Jan. 2, 2016

Forrest Gump called it

So our new governor has revoked the rights of non-violent felons to vote — those who have paid their fines and served their time now have no voice in their government.

He also froze the pay of state workers and put a hiring freeze on any other state jobs. Anyone can cut the budget by denying the most of the least. Kentuckians decided to vote against President Barack Obama and not elect the Democratic candidate. As Forrest Gump said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Gov. Matt Bevin does not have a mandate as this election was the lowest turnout of voters in 75 years. Voters: Get out and let your voice be heard. That is what America is all about.

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Fox in the hen house

Putting the fox in charge of the hen house. That seems to be Gov. Matt Bevin’s method for managing Kentucky’s wealth of environmental resources: our air, water and soil.

With the appointment of former coal executive Charles G. Snavely as the secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet, Kentucky’s mountains, fresh water mussels and hardwood forests are now shaking in their boots.

As the former president of Eastern U.S. Operations for Arch Coal, Inc., Snavely has been associated with a company that has consistently pushed back on protections for our headwaters as well as limits on air pollution through reductions in carbon emissions. This is not the holiday gift the environment was hoping for.

Our commonwealth’s most important resources — the air we breathe, the water we drink — deserve the strongest protections available. The health of our commonwealth depends on it. Only time will tell if our environmental health has an advocate in Snavely.

Deborah Payne

Berea

No signature, please

Although Gov. Matt Bevin's executive action to remove county clerks’ names from marriage licenses is ridiculous and pure pandering to the intolerant, I welcome this action. I certainly would not want Kim Davis’ name on my marriage license.

Walter Frazier

Lexington

Bevin’s mandate

As we enjoyed Christmas with above-average temperatures, the folks I talked with remarked how happy they were with the warm weather, particularly after the last two brutally cold winters.

I then thought maybe this global-warming nonsense might be true. Wouldn’t it be great to grow food later in the year and feed the hungry? But alas, like every other liberal Democrat promise, it was short-lived.

Kentucky turned a major corner with our last election. Gov. Matt Bevin was not shy about what he wanted to do and we elected him with a substantial margin. That’s called a mandate.

We have the opportunity to close the deal with the state elections this coming November, and a couple of special elections soon. There were several elected Democrats who realized that Democratic House Speaker Greg Stumbo’s direction of living in the past century is not Kentucky’s future and changed parties. They know Republicans are leading the way to bring opportunity for all, not just the privileged elite Democrats.

Help Kentucky in 2016 and elect Republicans. Together we will join the real promise of the 21st century, and make Kentucky great.

Bill Marshall

Midway

Rally for health care

Gov. Matt Bevin intends to dismantle Kynect and the Medicaid expansion, which would be irresponsible for both health care and the Kentucky economy.

According to Deloitte Consulting, a positive impact of some $280 million over eight years is expected if Kynect is sustained.

Kentucky has led the nation in reducing rates of uninsured adults, with over 500,000 previously uninsured Kentuckians now insured.

Neither Kynect nor the Affordable Care Act is a welfare program. They offer only health insurance. Providing health care for the working poor encourages fewer sick days and individual financial security.

Please call your legislators and the governor’s office to tell them you want Kynect and the Medicaid expansion protected.

To find your representatives, go to www.lrc.ky.gov and click on “Find My Legislator.” You can leave a message by calling the Legislative Message Line: 1-800-372-7181 or email through www.lrc.ky.gov.

Call the governor’s office at 502-564-2611 or contact online at www.kentucky.gov, and click “Contact.”

Kentuckians for the Commonwealth will rally Jan. 5 at 1 p.m. at the Capitol in Frankfort. We need a massive presence to let Bevin know it will cost him too much political capital to end Kynect and the Medicaid expansion.

Jim Johnson

James McMillin

Louisville

Obvious agenda

This newspaper's liberal agenda is so obvious sometimes that it is difficult for readers with common sense to comprehend.

I realize that the editorial page is not objective, but it is questionable how Joel Pett is an award-winning cartoonist. His recent portrayal of Gov. Matt Bevin with a pacifier is a prime example of his childishness, not Bevin’s.

Pett apparently got his feelings hurt when Bevin had the audacity to criticize his cartoon involving Bevin's children, so he reacted like a two-year-old spoiled brat. Personally, I think the pacifier better depicts Pett’s behavior.

A second point is in regards to Jack Brammer's story on Dec. 6. His reference to Bevin’s possible problems with Andy Beshear seems to suggest that the attorney general's office can be used to harass officeholders from the opposing party (as it was during the Fletcher administration) rather than enforce the laws of the state. The article seems to suggest that this is a perfectly acceptable use of the office.

If this type of harassment does start, perhaps the voters who elected Bevin can call for an investigation. I am sure the Herald-Leader will report anything uncovered objectively.

Doris Frederick

West Liberty

Keep Kynect, recall Bevin

I'm very concerned about Gov. Matt Bevin taking health care away from 400,000 Kentucky residents. Kentucky was the perfect example of how to set up a successful system and the rest of the country was very impressed. Gov. Steve Beshear was on many TV shows touting Kentucky’s ability to insure so many residents who never had health care.

Unfortunately, many people who are now on Medicaid or the Kynect program voted for Bevin and now there is a chance that they are going to loose their health care. If that’s the case, they get what they deserve.

If he does take health care away from 400,000 residents, we should consider a recall vote.

Bob Sharp

Lexington

Check gov’s hearing

How relieved I was to read that our new governor promises to answer the cry for help from every corner of the commonwealth.

But then I looked at his priorities, which include shutting down the state health exchange which has become a model for the nation; reducing the Medicaid rolls; creating public charter schools which drain funds from already beleaguered public schools; reshaping the teachers’ chronically underfunded pension plan, cutting benefits and shifting the financial burden to future retirees rather than restoring funding; and attacking hard-earned union rights that protect workers.

Finally, I see that one of his first actions was to appoint an executive of a coal company which has admitted to thousands of environmental violations to oversee the state environmental protection cabinet.

I am left with two possible questions. Just whose cry for help does he plan to answer? Or, perhaps, does our new governor need a hearing aid?

Judy Johnson

Lexington

Critical condition

The Democrats in this state are not dead but in critical condition.

The attorney general’s office and secretary of state are still in Democratic hands. If people were totally through with Democrats, more would have voted straight Republican.

Gov. Ernie Fletcher was elected in 2003 and only two Democrats were elected that year.

I think that people did not like Jack Conway or it was an anti-Obama protest. There are a lot of big money interests that hate Kynect/Obamacare. This election needs to be studied carefully to see exactly what happened. The polls were all absolutely wrong. Why?

Roy Holt

Alexandria

If it’s not broke.....

A petition with almost 4,000 signatures to be delivered to Gov. Matt Bevin, the House and the Senate requests they keep the Kynect health care exchange. Here are some of the comments.

“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it! My dad is too sick to work and waiting for disability to be approved. If you take this away it will probably be his death sentence. The ACA and Kynect have saved my small Kentucky business many dollars.”

“Kynect is the one thing that has made Kentucky look good in this country in years. Please do not take away our health-care exchange which is a national model of how to do it right.”

“Dismantling Kynect will not only hurt working class and even middle class Kentuckians, it will discourage businesses and educated folks from moving here.”

“As a former Department for Community Based Services family support specialist, I can attest that Kentuckians need Medicaid. It’s cost-effective to keep Kynect and the Medicaid expansion. Keeping Kynect and the Medicaid expansion will save lives.”

There are many, many more comments like this. I urge Bevin to reconsider his decision to dismantle Kynect.